Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 6

Today's post looks at the next four tracks on my latest annual holiday mix and offers a bit of background on each.

Track 18
Holiday Greetings, Shirley Jones

Shirley Jones in 1960

Shirley Jones is one of those legendary entertainers who seems to have been around forever and worked and excelled in nearly every corner of the industry. But there's one other thing about this star that sets her apart from most others — everybody likes her. Just this morning, as it happens, a tweet from her son, singer and former teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy, appeared in my Twitter feed that reads:

Took both my wife and mother to dinner tonight and we all ordered martinis. As it turns out, only one of us learned to imbibe with the likes of Sinatra, Bogie and Bacall. Well played, Mom. Well played.

That's a sweet note for a celebrity to write about his 88-year-old mother, to be sure, but what I found amazing is the flood of replies from fans and folks who know her personally all attesting to what a wonderful person Jones is and how kind and generous she is to those around her. My faith in humankind was at least somewhat restored and I'm grateful.

Born in rural Pennsylvania, Jones began to sing in her church choir and studied singing throughout her school years. After winning the Miss Pittsburgh contest in 1952, Jones was spotted at a Broadway audition by the casting director for Rodgers and Hammerstein who, quickly put her under contract. After several minor Broadway roles she was cast in 1955 as the lead in the film adaptation of Oklahoma! Other film roles followed, including leading parts in Carousel and The Music Man. In 1961, she won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Elmer Gantry.

Jones is probably best remembered for her role as Shirley Partridge on the ABC musical sitcom The Partridge Family. In the show, Jones played a single mother who formed a popular singing group with  her four children. In addition to the situational comedy, each episode featured a song or two purportedly performed by the talented family band, two of whom — Jones and her real-life stepson, David Cassidy, playing Keith Partridge — were actually performing. by the family group. The Partridge Family were soon topping the music charts in addition to the Neilson ratings, and Jones added pop sensation to her stage, film and television credits.

Unfortunately, Jones' success with The Partridge Family limited her ability to land other roles once that series went off the air. While she's continued to work, particularly on the stage, The Partridge Family  will likely remain her biggest hit. 

Of course, Jones has kept busy with a variety of other activities. She raised the three sons she had with her former husband, the late actor Jack Cassidy. She also has ten grandchildren, and she spent considerable time with the actors who played her children on TV. She also keeps busy with industry and charitable work, particularly on behalf of PETA. By all accounts, Shirley Jones is one terrific lady.

Watch "The Partridge Family," Season 2, Episode 1

Listen to "The Partridge Family's Greatest Hits"

Track 17
Christmas Time Is (Comin' Around Again), The Mavericks (2017)

I love running across bands whose holiday spirit is palpable and evidenced by specific holiday activities. Some artists perform special holiday shows, for example. Others — like the Beatles, R.E.M. and The Killers — famously release special holiday singles each year. The Mavericks, a Grammy Award-winning, genre-defying band from Miami, Florida, seem to do a little bit of both these things. In 2018, they released a popular Christmas album called Hey! Merry Christmas!, which included eight original holiday songs. Further, they are currently on their "2022 Very Merry Christmas Tour," which will include a stop right up the street from me at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, December 17. Give these guys a jolly "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

The Mavericks

The band was founded by guitarist Raul Malo and drummer Paul Deakin in 1989. Robert Reynolds (bass guitar) and Ben Peeler (lead guitar) joined soon after. They started playing local clubs in the Miami area almost immediately and in 1990 they produced their first album independently. The record's success led to the band being invited to a country music showcase in Nashville at which they were signed by MCA Nashville. There were problems describing The Maverick's style of music right from the start. They were signed as a country western act, but Malo's Cuban heritage and the fact they came from Miami complicated things. The band itself understood that they couldn't fairly be put in any particular category.

No matter what label you use, The Mavericks have had 11 hit albums since they signed with MCA. They've been nominated for eight Grammy Awards and won one in 1996 for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group for their album Here Comes the Rain. The group disbanded for several years in 2000 but since reforming in 2003 they've continued to tour and release new albums. 

I selected "Christmas Time Is (Comin' Around Again)" for this year's mix, but any of the tunes on their holiday album would have also worked well. Here, for example are The Mavericks performing the title song from that album, "Hey! Merry Christmas!

 

Listen to "Christmas Time Is (Comin' Around Again)," by The Mavericks

Buy The Mavericks' holiday album on amazon.com

Details on The Mavericks December 17 Show at The Ace Hotel in DTLA

Track 16
Santa's Got a Brand New Bag, Jim and Cathy (1965)

The third and final version of "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag" on this year's mix is by a group called Jim and Cathy. While this seems to have been the only record Jim and Cathy ever recorded under that name, the duo resurfaced in 1967 under the new name Friend and Lover, and promptly released a new album called Reach Out of the Darkness. The title track of the album was released as a single inn he Summer of 1967 (the fabled "Summer of Love") and became a Top 10 hit. I don't recall ever reading or hearing about Friend and Lover or "Reach Out of the Darkness, but I recognized the song immediately when I played it a few minutes ago and I'm sure you will, too (see link, below). Over time, according to the Song Facts website, the song has become "one of the canonical Flower Power songs, almost to the point of being a stereotypical parody of itself." Because of its strong association with the San Francisco hippie scene of the late 1960s, it was been used as background music in numerous films to conjure up a 1960s feel.  

Jim and Cathy

Friend and Lover and its earlier incarnation, Jim and Cathy, was made up of singers Jim Post and Cathy Conn. The couple married in 1966, and Cathy Conn became Cathy Post. Unfortunately, neither the marriage nor the band lasted too long after their first album's chart run. Jim continued to record and perform through the 1970s and '80s, though he never equaled the initial success of Friends and Lovers. He died just this past September at the age of 82. Cathy died in 2019 at the age of 73.

Hear Jim and Cathy's version of "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag"

Hear the Top 10 Hit "Reach Out of the Darkness, by Friend and Lover

Track 15
O Come All Ye Mindless, U.C. Berkeley Free Speechniks (1964)

Tracks 13, 15 and 23 are short variations on traditional Christmas carols repurposed by the Free Speechniks of the University of California at Berkeley as part of their Free Speech Movement (FSM). The story of the FSM is briefly described in the summary of Track 13, below.

The lyrics to the tune at Track 15 are as follows:

Hang on until our third of these little ditties, which will appear as Track 23 in a few days.

That's all for now. I'll be back next week with more.